Rock Head (Ability)

Rock Head (Japanese: いしあたま Rock Head) is an Ability introduced in Generation III.

If you were looking for the Rock Head Pokémon, see Bagon.

Rock Head

いしあたま

Rock Head

Flavor text

Generation III
Prevents recoil damage.


Generation IV
Protects the Pokémon from recoil damage.


Generation V
Protects the Pokémon from recoil damage.


Generation VI
Protects the Pokémon from recoil damage.


Generation VII
Protects the Pokémon from recoil damage.


Generation VIII
Protects the Pokémon from recoil damage.

Effect

In battle

Rock Head prevents recoil damage from moves (except Struggle, Shadow Rush^Colo, and Shadow End^XD).

If a Pokémon with Rock Head uses a contact move on a Pokémon with Mummy, so that it gains Mummy after inflicting damage, it does take recoil damage from that attack.

Rock Head does not affect other kinds of damage, such as crash damage, damage from a Life Orb, or damage from a Jaboca or Rowap Berry. Rock Head does not prevent the user from fainting from using moves that cause the user to faint.

Affected moves

The table below lists the moves affected by Rock Head, as well as the Pokémon that can have Rock Head and learn those moves.

Move	Type	Cat.	Pow.	Acc.	Learned by
Double-Edge	Normal	Physical	120	100	***	{{{6}}}
Flare Blitz	Fire	Physical	120	100		{{{6}}}
Head Smash	Rock	Physical	150	80		{{{6}}}
Submission	Fighting	Physical	80	80	*	{{{6}}}
Take Down	Normal	Physical	90	85	*	{{{6}}}
Wood Hammer	Grass	Physical	120	100		{{{6}}}

Although the following moves are affected by the Ability, they currently cannot be learned by any Pokémon with Rock Head. They may, however, be called via Metronome, Mirror Move, Copycat, or Mimic, or be used by a Pokémon that gained Rock Head by an Ability like Trace or Receiver or a move such as Skill Swap or Role Play.

Move	Type	Cat.	Pow.	Acc.
Brave Bird	Flying	Physical	120	100	{{{5}}}	{{{6}}}
Head Charge	Normal	Physical	120	100	{{{5}}}	{{{6}}}
Light of Ruin	Fairy	Special	140	90	{{{5}}}	{{{6}}}
Volt Tackle	Electric	Physical	120	100	{{{5}}}	{{{6}}}
Wild Charge	Electric	Physical	90	100	{{{5}}}	{{{6}}}

Outside of battle

Rock Head has no effect outside of battle.

Pokémon with Rock Head

#	Pokémon	Types		First Ability	Second Ability	Hidden Ability
	Geodude	Rock	Ground	Rock Head	Sturdy	Sand Veil
	Graveler	Rock	Ground	Rock Head	Sturdy	Sand Veil
	Golem	Rock	Ground	Rock Head	Sturdy	Sand Veil
	Onix	Rock	Ground	Rock Head	Sturdy	Weak Armor
	Cubone	Ground		Ground	Rock Head	Lightning Rod	Battle Armor
	Marowak	Ground		Ground	Rock Head	Lightning Rod	Battle Armor
	Marowak Alolan Form	Fire	Ghost	Cursed Body	Lightning Rod	Rock Head
	Rhyhorn	Ground	Rock	Lightning Rod	Rock Head	Reckless
	Rhydon	Ground	Rock	Lightning Rod	Rock Head	Reckless
	Aerodactyl	Rock	Flying	Rock Head	Pressure	Unnerve
	Sudowoodo	Rock		Rock	Sturdy	Rock Head	Rattled
	Steelix	Steel	Ground	Rock Head	Sturdy	Sheer Force
	Aron	Steel	Rock	Sturdy	Rock Head	Heavy Metal
	Lairon	Steel	Rock	Sturdy	Rock Head	Heavy Metal
	Aggron	Steel	Rock	Sturdy	Rock Head	Heavy Metal
	Relicanth	Water	Rock	Swift Swim	Rock Head	Sturdy
	Bagon	Dragon		Dragon	Rock Head	None	Sheer Force
	Shelgon	Dragon		Dragon	Rock Head	None	Overcoat
	Bonsly	Rock		Rock	Sturdy	Rock Head	Rattled
	Basculin Blue-Striped Form	Water		Water	Rock Head	Adaptability	Mold Breaker
	Tyrantrum	Rock	Dragon	Strong Jaw	None	Rock Head
Please note that this is only 100% accurate to Generation VIII games. For Generation III games, ignore Abilities introduced in Generation IV or later and Hidden Abilities. For Generation IV games, ignore Hidden Abilities. For Generation V games, ignore Abilities introduced in Generation VI or later. For Generation VI games, ignore Abilities introduced in Generation VII or later. For Generation VII games, ignore Abilities introduced in Generation VIII or later.

In Pokémon Black and White, Blue-Striped Basculin have Reckless as their second standard Ability; however, a Blue-Striped Basculin with Rock Head can be obtained from an in-game trade in White. In Pokémon Black 2 and White 2, wild Blue-Striped Basculin have Rock Head as their second standard Ability, but Blue-Striped Basculin bred in Pokémon Black 2 and White 2 have Reckless as their second standard Ability. In Generation VI, Blue-Striped Basculin have Rock Head as their second standard Ability, and Blue-Striped Basculin with Reckless transferred to Pokémon Bank have their Ability changed to Rock Head.

In other games

Description

Games	Description
MDRB	Prevents damage from the recoil of moves such as Take Down.
MDTD S	Protects the Pokémon from the recoil damage of moves such as Take Down.
BSL	とっしんなどのはんどうのダメージをうけない
MDGtI	Protects the Pokémon from recoil damage from certain moves.* Recoil damage from certain moves won't hurt the Pokémon!*
SMD	Recoil damage from certain moves won't hurt the Pokémon!
MDRTDX	The Pokémon won't be hurt when it uses moves that cause recoil damage.

In the anime

Pokémon	Method

Aggron	Sudowoodo	Onix	Bonsly
When the Pokémon uses an attack that inflicts recoil damage, it doesn't get hit with recoil.
User	First Used In		Notes
Bonsly	When Bonsly uses an attack that inflicts recoil damage, it doesn't get hit with recoil.
Brock's Bonsly	From Cradle to Save		Debut
Sudowoodo	When Sudowoodo uses an attack that inflicts recoil damage, it doesn't get hit with recoil.
Brock's Sudowoodo	Leave it to Brocko!		None
Onix	When Onix uses an attack that inflicts recoil damage, it doesn't get hit with recoil.
Roark's Onix	Shapes of Things to Come!		None
Aggron	When Aggron uses an attack that inflicts recoil damage, it doesn't get hit with recoil.
Paul's Aggron	Familiarity Breeds Strategy!		None

In the manga

Pokémon Adventures

Onix	Aerodactyl

When the Pokémon uses an attack that inflicts recoil damage, it doesn't get hit with recoil.
Pokémon	Method
User	First Chapter Used In	Notes
Aerodactyl	When Aerodactyl uses an attack that inflicts recoil damage, it doesn't get hit with recoil.
Red's Aero	Double Dealing with Deoxys	Debut
Golem	When Golem uses an attack that inflicts recoil damage, it doesn't get hit with recoil.
The Battle Factory's Golem	Pinsir Me, I Must Be Dreaming	None
Onix	When Onix uses an attack that inflicts recoil damage, it doesn't get hit with recoil.
Roark's Onix	A Conk on Cranidos's Cranium	None

In the Japan Mini-volume 6 for the X & Y chapter, Y's Rhyhorn, Rhyrhy, was revealed to have Rock Head as his Ability.
Sapphire's Relicanth, Relly, is revealed to have Rock Head as his Ability.
Emerald's Sudowoodo is revealed to have Rock Head as her Ability.
Brock's Onix is revealed to have Rock Head as his Ability.
Giovanni's Rhyhorn, Rhydon, and Aggron are revealed to have Rock Head as their Ability.
Drake's Shelgon is revealed to have Rock Head as his Ability.
A Team Magma Grunt's Bagon is revealed to have Rock Head as its Ability.

In other languages

Language		Title
Chinese	Cantonese	堅硬腦袋 Gīnngaahng Nóuhdoih * 石頭 Sehktàuh *
Chinese	Mandarin	堅硬腦袋 / 坚硬脑袋 Jiānyìng Nǎodai * 石頭 Shítou *
Dutch		Steenkop
Finnish		Kivipää
French		Tête de Roc
German		Steinhaupt
Indonesian		Kepala Batu
Italian		Testadura
Korean		돌머리 Dol Meori
Polish		Skalna Głowa
Portuguese		Cabeça de Pedra
Romanian		Capul de Piatră
Spanish		Cabeza Roca
Vietnamese		Đầu đá

This article is part of Project Moves and Abilities, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on two related aspects of the Pokémon games.

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